Hey all,

This is probably going to sound like a VERY dumb question, but how difficult is the installation of a wonderbar? I just bought one from TDS (should be here by the weekend)... and it looks like it is very simple and straight forward:

-remove bolts for sway bar bushing
-Slide it in between bushing and frame
-put bolts back in

But I know that it cant be that easy... nothing ever is

I'm probably only going to have a 30 or so min window of time this weekend to do it, so would that be enough time?

Thanks in advance, and don't kill me cuz I have to borrow someone else's driveway (and have very limited time to do so)

-Tim-

 

You're on track. Thirty minutes may be pushing it, however. I'd start the PB Blaster/ WD-40 now.

JamesC

 

Thanks James, I just didn't think that it could be that easy... I know when I changed my EGR valve, it took me about 4 hours to do it... and that looked simple eoungh...

I guess that I am juat a little skeptical of things that seem to easy...

But I will def start WD-40-ing tonight, thanks for the advice!!

 

Sometimes it can be a pain to hold everything up to align the bolts back up so you could use a jack stand or something to hold everything up while you slide the wonder bar in and put the bolts back in.

 

Yup, it REALLY IS that easy...

Derek is right about the hardest thing being the holding up stuff to put the bolts in. Other than that, it's one of the easiest mods there is.

Don't expect anything radical; on my car, it tightened it up, most noticeable whan hitting a bump while going over a corner. It didn't improve handling or anything like that. Just, seemed like the car was a bit firmer and more solid, under certain circumstances. Definitely good, but subtle.

 

What exactly does the wonderbar do. It is a steering brace right. Why do our cars need it. Our cars were made for performance so wouldnt this ruin the point of it?

 

Naw, they were just made to look and feel like performance. Really they are crappliy built, weak, and cheep.

 

Protects that area, which was/is prone to cracking--especially with 16" wheels apparently. Essentially it's a Bandaid.

JamesC

 

Thank you for that. The idea that the addition of the Wonderbar will make your car "ride like it's on rails" is annoying.

JamesC

 

That is why some people call it a Wonder Bar, because they Wonder what is dose. The correct name is Steering Box Support.

 

The Camaro Parts and Illustration Catalog, in a diagram of the front suspension, calls it a "Wonderbar" in red lettering. In the description, it's called a Brace, Upr Structure. Odd, but somehow interesting.

JamesC

 

I know that it wont do alot performance wise... I was mostly getting it because of the reduced stress on the other steering parts

That, and the next one that I am gonna get are SFCs, and I would just think that SFCs without a steering brace wouldn't work as well as SFC's with one...

I dont know for sure, but hopefully it will at least keep my alignment on for more than a week

-Tim-

 

It doesn't reduce stress on any steering parts.

All it does is brace the "frame" part of the unibody, where it sticks out toward the bumper.

Think about your steering..... you've got a Pitman arm and an idler arm, which are parallel, and which pivot around fixed points on the frame; and you've got a center link, which connects the 2 of those together. Those 3 things form 3 sides of a parallelogram. The 4th side is ...... empty space, between the 2 halves of the frame. All that the "wonderbar" does, is connect that empty space together, to complete the parallelogram.

GM introduced it to employ the pass side "frame" to help stabilize the steering gear mount point. But, in addition to that, it "perfects" the operation of the steering somewhat, since if that 4th side of that parallelogram doesn't stay a constant length (like, if the driver's side of the "frame" bends from the force of the steering gear), then the 2 wheels will steer differently. The toe will vary all over the place. The bar GREATLY reduces that (which in theory should reduce tire wear a bit, but I have no clue whether that actually results). And, it adds to the overall stiffness of the front end, much like a strut tower brace does. Which is what I mainly noticed; the whole car just felt more solid and firm, especially when hitting bumps at the same time as going around corners. I couldn't tell any change in the steering itself, or in the handling. The effect was not just super obvious. More of a minor tweek. About 10% or less as much effect as SFCs.

It's not going to "keep" your alignment. If the alignment doesn't stay constant, you have other issues somewhere.

 

Well, I know that my car has some other issues also...

Anyways, thanks for the info!! that was really helpful!!

-Tim-

 

Good design...crappy build materials.